| |
| |
|
Leadership Information |
|
|
|
Why the Squirrel Kept Winning!
I had the good fortune (or misfortune depending on your climate perspective) of living in Minnesota for ten years. The Summers were beautiful, Fall was spectacular with the changing colors of the leaves on trees and winter was,?well, damn cold. My neighbor, Harold was a nice old guy who had retired many years ago who hibernated all winter but loved to garden during the summer. The only time I saw Harold come out of his house was to put some bird food in the feeder he'd setup on his tree in the front yard. Every year, as winter began to set in, I would see squirrels all around our front lawns gathering food. They'd scurry around digging and prodding hoping to fill their jowls with some food and return to their hole. One day I saw Harold putting some metal sheets around the base of his tree where he kept his bird feeder. I didn't understand why until another neighbor explained to me that Harold was trying to keep the squirrels from eating the bird food. By putting the metal sheets around the base Harold thought the squirrels wouldn't be able to climb up the tree. The next morning, the food was gone. Later that week I saw him wrap a jagged funnel around the base of the tree. It looked like those funnels dog's wear around their neck so it won't bite or lick its wounds. Well imagine one of those wrapped around the tree with the wide part pointing down with jagged edged. It looked like something out of a Frankenstein flick. Yet, the next day, the food was gone. The following week Harold figured he'd put the bird feeder on a string and hang it from the tip of one of the branches. I believe his thinking was that the squirrel couldn't go out to the edge of the branch because the branch wouldn't support the weight thereby not allowing the squirrel to get to the feeder. Next day, you got it, the food was gone. This battle between Harold and the squirrel went on for at least the 10 years I was his neighbor. I wanted to tell Harold that his attempts were futile and that he would never win this 'War of the Feeder'; but I didn't say anything. I just watched. It was cheap entertainment. As this was happening, I started thinking about how unfair the match up was between a man and a squirrel. I didn't feel sorry for the squirrel...I felt sorry for Harold. Although Harold was stronger and smarter than the squirrel, he lacked the one quality that would guarantee him victory, focus. You see Harold thinks about ways of preventing the squirrel from getting the food on occasion, when he has time. The squirrel on the other hand has its mind on getting that food 24 hours a day. The squirrel's very survival depends on it. Survival brings about, not just focus but an intense focus on solving a problem by removing an obstacle. Unless Harold shows that same level of 24 hour commitment and intensity, I have my money on the squirrel every time. Success is not about who is stronger. Success is not about who has more money. Success is not about who has a better GPA. Success is about who is more focused and committed to achieving their objectives. You, the reader, can compete with any person no matter who they may be. The only thing you have to do is commit yourself to focusing in on the very subject that interests you. When you focus in on one thing, like the squirrel, all of your mind's resources are directed at attaining your objective and obtaining your rewards. With focus, you begin to take in more information quickly because you're interested in learning, you want know everything. You are consumed by your focus to succeed! Harold was not an expert in stopping squirrels; it was a task that needed to be done and he attended to it when he had time. The squirrel on the other hand became an expert at bypassing obstacles and solving problems because he focused all its attention on obtaining the end goal, food. In today's market, too many people want to be generalist (i.e., good at a lot of things or jack of all trades but master of none). But the market DOES NOT REWARD generalists, they REWARD experts. The market wants people who are good at doing a particular task; an expert. You want job security? Become an expert in your field of expertise. How do you become an expert? Like the squirrel, you focus. Harold was 92 and died the year we moved from Minnesota. I don't know how long Harold fought the 'War of the Feeder' but as I drove off on the last day I looked back and saw a squirrel scurrying around the front lawn still trying to get to the bird feeder that still hung from the tree. Harold was gone but the squirrel was still around, still strategizing and still focused. The squirrel had won! Please forward this article; share it with a friend who needs it. Victor Gonzalez, top Hispanic motivational speaker and author of "The LOGIC of Success". For more info go to: www.thelogicofsuccess.com or by email victor@thelogicofsuccess.com
MORE RESOURCES: This RSS feed URL is deprecated, please update. New URLs can be found in the footers at https://news.google.com/news
Google News |
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Awaken the Leader in You: 10 Easy Steps To Develop Your Leadership Skills "The miracle power that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application, and perseverance, under the promptings of a brave determined spirit." - Mark TwainMany motivational experts like to say that leaders are made, not born. 3 Elements of Leadership Power! In an article discussing the need for innovative products and profitable service offerings, Vinutha V., points out that, "improvements are only the expected results, not the source of competitive advantage. Effective Leaders are (#1) Conceptual SEE INTO THE FUTURE CREATIVELY AND PRACTICALITY: Planning day-to-day is obviously important, but a good leader must be able to see the long-range picture, to know the history of the organization and have a sense of the direction in which it is traveling. Effective leaders always have the long-range picture in mind as they plan laterally. Dissolving Conflict Through Reframing Reframing is looking at the situation with a new set of eyes. Its asking your self if you have a clear picture of the situation and of what is happening around you. People or Objects? - - You Decide "How you think determines how you act. How you act, in turn, determines how others react to you. Women in Leadership - How to Get Promoted It is often much harder for women to get promoted than men. The most common characteristic of successful women is that they know how to express their excellence in a male dominated environment. Lessons In Leadership: What Not To Do... From A Canoe! When it comes to fishing, my husband takes the lead. But his lack of leadership ability in a recent canoe trip on the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota offered wonderful lessons on how leaders can unknowingly screw up. Creating Unlimited Belief for Success! What's holding your team back from experiencing "breakout performance"?It may be those Old beliefs and Personal Insecurities. (aka: conceptual barriers)Conceptual barriers are the barriers that are right behind the eyes, DEEP within the brain. The Seven Mistakes to Avoid when Organising Your Student Leadership Program How do you measure the success of a training or teaching program? There are many measures you can use including; focusing on learning outcomes, behavioural change, student engagement and even efficiency of delivery.An effective leadership program can achieve all of the above and more. Steps to Becoming a Good Leader STEPS TO BECOMING A GOOD LEADER: 1. Develop a master plan. Why Not Lead With Emotions? Studies have shown that companies that have acquired competencies to lead with emotional excellence are far more productive and efficient because of the impact emotional excellence has on employee morale, loyalty, retention and overall performance of the organization to name a few.Since the early 1990's and especially after the internationally renowned author Daniel Goleman's book "Working with Emotional Intelligence" hit the bestseller's list, the business world began to pay close attention to this competency and began to incorporate it in their employee training programs. Top 25 Leadership Quotations Ponder what it takes to be a true leader with these practical quotes that will lead you to a more precise understanding of the secrets to successful leadership.. Evil, Hostile Grumpy Listeners? Think Again I hated Kyle Sisk*. A notorious bully, Kyle punctuated my grade school years with misery. The Top 10 Questions for Socially Responsible Leaders The assets of your business traditionally include property, plant, equipment, and your customer base. Progressive organizations understand that business assets also include their good reputation, responsiveness to change, the ability to conduct a constructive dialogue with stakeholders, the ability to take advantage of networked resources, and a host of other non-traditional assets. Leadership: Seed or Fruit? Purpose: Learn immediately if you are fostering leadership or ignoring it. Discover the power of nurturing your people. Take the Road Less Traveled "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." - Robert FrostI watched Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, a very controversial film on Hitler's 1934 Nuremberg Rally put on by equally controversial Toronto film connoisseur, Reg Hartt, at the Cineforum (a make-shift theatre in his home). Who Is Randy Gage and Why Is He One of My Mentors and Heroes? Who is Randy Gage? I first read about him in a newsletter by his friend, and another of my mentors and heroes, Stuart Goldsmith.At first he came across as a bit too much 'in-your-face' for my liking but, as he was challenging some of my long held beliefs, I came to realise that I was in a state of denial. What Kind of Leader Are You? There are literally millions of words written and spoken each week on enlightened leadership yet the fact remains that low morale, high stress and job dissatisfaction continue to be three of the most serious problems facing the workplace. We seem to be so effectively socialized into top down leadership that we find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to change our autocratic ways. 3 Dynamic Techniques To Boost Your Executive Leadership! Here's a really simple way to measure the strength of your executive leadership skills. Ask your people to name 3 important reasons why they enjoy working with you. A Whack Up Long Side The Head Of Human Resources: The Leadership Imperative When we perceive the simple center in the seemingly complex, we can change our world in powerful new ways.Albert Einstein perceived the simple E=MC2 in the complexities of physical reality and changed the history of the 20th century.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2007 |